No Need For Goodbyes
by Ridley Silverlake
Summary: Natsume never found it easy to show his feelings, and Mikan had too much pride in her to be able to tell an arrogant man how she truly felt. Now Mikan is offered a job overseas and she takes it. Will Natsume be able to convince her to stay with him?


Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice. [:

This was inspired by the song _The __One__ That __Got __Away _by David DiMuzio. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. :3

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><p><strong>No Need For Goodbyes<br>**

"_I got a job in New York!" Mikan jumped in excitement as she told her friends the good news._

"_That's great, Mikan," said Ruka who sat at the breakfast table of their apartment with his live-in girlfriend, Hotaru. They all met in Hotaru's place to have dinner for Mikan's big announcement. _

"_When are you leaving?" Asked Yuu._

_Mikan's smile disappeared slowly, but halfway to a frown, her lips formed a smile again, "Not very soon… Well… In less than a week."_

"_Less than a week?" Yuu said loudly in disbelief._

That was it. She was leaving today. But no, he wasn't going to let her go just like that. He might not have been able to show it well, but he loved her more than anything in the world and he knew he had to let her know before she left them for a job halfway across the world.

"Where is she?" The door to Hotaru and Ruka's apartment flew open, and Natsume came storming in.

Hotaru and Ruka were in the middle of picking out new tiles for their bathroom from a magazine. They looked at each other and Hotaru, afraid of receiving a frightening reply from Natsume, gestured for Ruka to break the news to their friend. "She just left," Ruka looked up from the table, to a panting Natsume who stood under the doorframe.

"Damn it," Natsume muttered and clenched his fists. "Do you at least have her flight details?" He asked, hoping he wouldn't be too late if he went over to the airport to stop her from leaving.

"I think I have it here somewhere," Hotaru rummaged through her shelf and took out a black notebook. "Here it is. Haneda Airport, and her flight leaves at four PM."

"Thanks," Natsume ran out of the apartment, hoping he'd make it to her before she boarded the plane.

Ruka looked at the clock. It was two thirty PM. "Mikan has a meeting before her flight. Natsume won't make it," he told Hotaru before he ran after his best friend.

Natsume had just closed the door of the cab he got in. "Haneda Airport. Hurry!" He yelled.

"Stop!" Ruka's voice came from outside the taxi, which made the driver stomp on the brakes. "Natsume! You won't make it!"

"I have to try!" Natsume yelled, not being able to contain himself.

Ruka opened the door and got in with Natsume. "Narita International Airport," Ruka told the driver.

"What?" Natsume's turned to look at his best friend, "she's at Haneda Airport. Didn't you hear your girlfriend?"

"Trust me, Natsume!" Ruka bellowed.

Natsume ran a hand through his hair and messed it up, frustrated at the blind shooting Ruka attempted. "I hope you're sure about this," he leaned back on his seat, irritated.

"So do I," Ruka said to himself.

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><p>"Finally," a tired Mikan grabbed her luggage from the conveyor belt at the airport and made her way out. She was never a fan of traveling, so the fourteen-hour flight didn't do her any good. A cab pulled over right outside the glass doors and she started running, hoping she'd be the first to claim it.<p>

Successful at that, Mikan put her bags in the trunk and made herself comfortable on the leather seats. "Here, please," Mikan handed over a piece of paper with an address written on it, to the driver. Her English wasn't very good yet, but that was something she hoped she'd get a hang of soon.

Just like the plane ride, New York traffic didn't do her any good either. After an hour and a half of waiting in traffic, she finally reached her new apartment. She paid the driver, who didn't even bother to help her get her luggage out of the trunk.

Mikan entered the building and headed straight to the second floor where her new flat was. She put her suitcase down and searched for her keys.

"Keys, keys," Mikan rummaged through her handbag, but stopped the moment she heard a familiar man's voice.

"You put it inside your cellphone's pouch this morning," the voice said from behind her.

"Ruka," Mikan stared at him in shock, almost dropping her bag, "what are you doing here?"

"Did you know that Narita had earlier flights?" Ruka walked closer to her while Mikan gave him a confused look, not knowing how to respond.

Ruka sighed, "We need to talk."

"Erm…" Mikan's eyes shifted. "Sure, but… Couldn't you have just emailed me or something? How much did you spend for a last minute flight?"

"Never mind that," Ruka pushed her questions aside. "It's about Natsume."

Mikan sighed, "God, Ruka. How many times do we have to talk about this? If he can't treat me right, then I—"

"He was upset when you didn't say goodbye to him," Ruka cut Mikan off before she could even start ranting on about how Natsume never treated her well.

"What are you talking about?" Mikan knew what he meant, but didn't want to admit it. Moving to New York was supposed to be something good—new life, new people, new job—and Ruka just had to follow her to remind her about something she thought she'd left behind.

"You know perfectly what I mean," Ruka said heatedly. "You visited your grandpa, you went over to Yuu, you drove an hour away from town just to see Anna and Nonoko, you even went to see Sumire, and you know she hates you. You told me you saw Natsume on your way to our apartment, but minutes later he comes to us looking for you. What do you say to that?"

"Look, I'm sorry I lied to you about seeing Natsume, okay? But I just couldn't do it." Tears began to well in Mikan's eyes. "You try saying goodbye to Hotaru, and let's see how you take it," she continued after trying to keep herself together. "I tried, Ruka. I really did. I never went to see Anna and Nonoko, and I didn't go to Sumire. The whole time, I stood outside Natsume's apartment building debating on whether or not I should go inside and tell him how I feel, or if not, at least to say goodbye to him."

"This has nothing to do with him not treating you right, does it?" Ruka stood feet away from her. Mikan needed someone to hold her, to stop her tears, but he knew he wasn't the right person for it.

"Of course it does," the tears ran down the sides of her face quickly, and they looked like they wouldn't stop until she managed to get everything out of her system. "Why would he even care about me not saying goodbye to him? It's supposed to bug me more, but I managed to fly half way across the world from him. It shouldn't even matter to him if I said goodbye or not. He's the one who makes my life miserable. If it wasn't for Hotaru, I wouldn't have been hanging around with you guys for years."

"Have you never gone through the grade school phase, Mikan?" Ruka asked. "The reason why he's mean to you is because he likes you."

"Oh yeah?" Mikan was furious, "This is so like him. Getting other people to do his dirty work for him."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ruka backed away.

"_This,_ Ruka," Mikan gestured to the empty corridor of her new home, "no one else is around. It's just you and me. No Natsume. He's not here to take care of his own mess. If he likes me so much like you say he does, then why isn't he here?"

"But I am," a deep, raspy voice came from behind her.

Mikan's tears seized for a second. She stood there, afraid of turning around to see who the obvious newcomer was.

Natsume didn't move. He wanted to give her some time before he moved closer.

Mikan finally faced him. Her eyes were overflowing with tears.

"I love you," Natsume said with every hint of emotion, not holding back at all. He held out his hand to her. "Come back with me please."

Mikan just stood there, hoping her tears would stop. Her head was overflowing with emotions, and she wanted to be able to do more than stand in front of the man she loved and allow her tears to endlessly flow. She bit her lip and put a hand over her mouth, hoping she wouldn't have to bawl noisily out in the quiet hallway.

The life of Natsume's heart rested on Mikan's decision. But if she didn't want to come back with him, then seeing her for the last time would have been enough. Looking at the love of his life was worth the trip alone, and all that mattered was that he got the chance to say goodbye. But the look in her eyes made him think he had a chance somehow.

Mikan finally calmed down. She looked at Natsume with her beautiful chocolate brown eyes, looked down, and slowly shook her head. "I can't," she whispered. "I just can't."

And that was it. He slowly backed away and, though he hoped he didn't have to do so, he turned around and left.

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><p>"Cheer up," Ruka put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "there are other opportunities."<p>

"You wanna come back to my place first?" Ruka asked, "Hotaru's at a meeting right now, maybe you wanna get a drink and talk about it." They were finally back in Tokyo and had stepped out of the airport to get back home.

"No," Natsume got into a cab. "I'm going home."

"Alright," Ruka gave him a strong pat on the back, "feel better."

Natsume didn't respond. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. He knew he shouldn't have treated her badly, but that's just how he was. He never had the ability to show his feelings right, and he thought that if Mikan loved him like she said she did, then she'd understand and accept that one thing about him.

He arrived at his apartment and headed straight to his bedroom. He didn't bother taking his shoes off or changing clothes, he just wanted to lie down and rest. He didn't know how he was supposed to take this kind of rejection from the girl he'd had feelings for for such a long time. He'd been turned down by several other girls, but Mikan was different from all the others, she wasn't just some random girl he found in a bar and chose to hook up with; she actually made him feel something for her.

Natsume closed his eyes; wanting to fall asleep and hoping he wouldn't have to wake up again. It was quiet… until he heard a knock on the door. His eyes shot open, wondering who it might be. He lifted his head and lazily walked to his living room and opened his front door to find a woman with brown hair panting at his doorstep.

"I was hoping Haneda had earlier flights this time," she said between breaths, "I guess I was wrong. Like how I was wrong to turn you down earlier."

Natsume stood there awestruck and overwhelmed, and he had no idea what to say. "I… uhh… you left your job in New York" was all he could get out.

"A job overseas is nothing." Mikan threw herself at him and gave him an intense kiss. She pulled away as soon as she ran out of breath. She kept her arms wrapped around him and looked him in the eye, "They always told me I should've just let you know how I felt. I guess I had too much pride in me to say so the a guy who couldn't even treat me well." She started crying again, but this time, they weren't tears of sadness.

"It's not your fault," Natsume smiled. "I was stuck in the grade school phase after all."

**The End**

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><p><strong>Author<strong>**'****s ****Notes:** I hate the ending, but I love it anyway. :3 I hope that makes sense. Review? :D

Ridley Silverlake :D


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